Chair.



R. HOLMAN.

CHAIR.

(Application led Nov. 15, 1900.)

Patented Sept. I7, |90I.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES YPATENT OFFICE.v

RUFUS HOLMAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. i

CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 682,700, dated September 1'7, 1901.

Application iiled November l5, 1900. Serial No. 36,594. (No modeLi T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUFUS HOLMAN., a4 citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Chairs, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the draw. ings representing` like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a novel chair, my invention being represented as embodied in a steamer or lounging chair.

In chairs now commonly made and provided with open-work or cane in the seats the strands of cane are held in holes in a perinanent part of the seat, fixed immovably and uniting the chair-frame, and when the cane breaks the entire chair is sent to some place where recaning is customarily done, and frequently the chair, because of the trouble of sending it to the repairer, is thrown away.

I have aimed to provide a seat-frame carrying the cane for the seat, the frame being connected detachably with the chair-frame, so that when the cane is broken the seat-frame may be readily taken off the chair-frame by the removal of a few screws and another seat-frame be put in its place, making thel chair as good as new. This feature is of very considerable valuein what is called steamerchairs, as the cane in the seat Iis frequently posed of like legs A, shaped and prolonged to constitute the main part of the back of the chair, and arms B, jointed to the back at a, said arms having hinged to them at b suitable front legs C, one of said legs A and O being broken out in Fig. 2 to show inside elevation the seat-frame D. The chair has a seatframe support E, pivoted at c to the legs A and to the legs Oat c'. The frame-support'is composed of two curved bars to rest on the floor, the front ends of said bars being united by a cross-bar c2, and behind the legs A said bars are connected by a cross-bar c3 and the rung c4. The legs A, below the seat-frame support, are provided with a cross-bar or rung d2, on which rests the under side of the frame E. The front cross-bar c2 of the seatsustaining frame E has hinged toit a legrest G, the upper side of which is concavoconvex in shape, and near the outer end of this leg-rest I have jointed leg-rest supports g, which when the chair is not in use may be folded up within the spaces of the legrest. The cross-bars c2 and c3 are each shown as rabbeted, respectively, at their inner edges between their ends, as at 2 3, to form spaces to receive the end bars d d of the seat-.frame D, said end bars being connected by side,

bars d' d', concavo-convex in the direction of their length. This seat-frame or canecarrier is notched or cut at its ends, at the under side thereof, as best shown in Fig. 2, to leave portions to enter the rabbets 2 3 and be sustained thereby, said ends d d being held detachably to said support by suitable screws 6, and topr'event the entrance of dust into what would be a crack between the outer edges of the framev D and the inner vertical Walls of the rabbets I have so cut or shaped the outer ends of the said frame as to leave beads d3, which inuse conceal the crank. These beadsaiford a very desirable inish to the chair, and by removing the screws G by an ordinary screw-driver, which may be done by any one, a frame in which the strands of cane are broken may be detached from the support E without at all dismembering or ungluing any part 'Hof the chair, and another interchangeable seat, of which there may be any desired number in a steamer, hotel, or other place where the chair is used, may be applied, making the chair immediately as good as new. The provision of this detachable scat-frame gives very material value to the chair' and adds to its desirability and makes it. more salable. The cane d6 is crossed and its ends inserted, as usual, in holes of the parts d and 'drof the seat-frame D. The side bars d' of the seat-frame are concaved at d7 forwardlyy from the legs A at the front, where the greatest weight of the body should be sustained by IOO the seat, and convexed forwardly from the legs C, said shape preventing the sliding of the body forward on the seat, as when the top thereof is in one plane, such construction making a more restful and satisfactory seat that one can lounge or sleep upon with greater comfort.

To fold up the chair that it may be set aside or put out of use, I turn the legs g up into the leg-support G and then turn the arms B upwardly against the upper portions of the legs A, the seat-frame fitting against the legs A and back and the legs C coming substantially to the legs A. The shape of the upper side of the seat-frame substantially accords with the shape of the back, which enables the chair to be folded more snugly than if the seat were straight.

It will be understood that this invention is not limited to a detachable frame containing cane, as instead I may employ any usual material with the seat-fra me so long as it may be made to conform in outline or shape With the side bars CZ; nor is this invention limited to the use of screws for holding the seat-frame detachably on its support, as it will be obvious that other means than screws which may be readily manipulated mechanically to retain and fasten the seat-frame quickly may be employed.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A chair having a seat-support, said seatsupport being provided at the front and rear of the chair with cross-bars, each having a rabbet formed therein, a curved seat-frame, the front and rear ends of which enter said rabbets, and means for detachably coniining the ends of said seat-frame in the rabbets of the front and rear cross-bars.

2. A chair having a seat-support provided with cross-bars, said cross-bars being rabbeted, a seat-frame of concavo-conveX shape in the direction of its length, two opposite edges of which enter the rabbets of the crossbars respectively to support said seat-frame j from said two opposite edges, and means eny gaging the said opposite edges of the seat-l frame and the cross-bars for detachably connecting the seat-frame to the cross-bars.

3. A chair having a seat-support, said seatsupport being provided at the front and rear of the chair with cross-bars, each having a rabbet formed therein, and a seat frame curved in concave-convex form in the direction of its length, the front and rear ends of which at the extremities of the curvature enter said rabbets, and means for detachably confining the ends of said seat-frame in the rabbets of the front and rear cross-bars.

4. A chair having a seat-support provided with rahbeted cross-bars at the front and rear thereof, and a seat-frame curved in the direction of its length, the ends of which enter said rabbets, and means for confining said seat-frame detachably in working posit-ion,'

the endmost cross-bars of said frame havinga bead to conceal the line of junction of said seat frame and support.

5. In a chair, a seat-support provided With rabheted cross-bars, front and back legs loosely jointed thereto, and a seat-frame con caved at its upper side between said front and back legs, and said seat being convexed atits front end beyond the outer faces of the front legs, the ends of said seat-frame being detachably secu red inthe rabbets of the crossbars.

In a chair, supporting-legs, a seat-support extending from the rear of the back legs to a point beyond the front legs and loosely jointed to both the front and back legs, crossbars carried by said seat-support one in rear of the back legs and the other in front of the front legs, a seat-frame concave-convex in form extendingifrom one cross-bar to the other and supported at its front and rear ends thereby, and means to detachably connect the seat-frame to said cross-bars.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RUFUS IIOLMAN.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, MARGARET A. DUNN. 

